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☆ Kenyans struggle to comprehend starvation cult massacre as first bodies are finally released for burial
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( David Mckenzie | Sarah Dean | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The family members clutched each other and wailed as attendants pulled small bundles out of the funeral van. On Tuesday, Wanje became the first family member to retrieve the bodies of his relatives for burial after they became victims of a tragedy, dubbed the Shakahola massacre, that many Kenyans find hard to comprehend. Mortuary workers move the remains of several members of the same family who were victims of the Kenyan starvation cult. Forensic experts and volunteers have spent months finding and digging up remains of the cult members. Of those, only 34 positive DNA matches to surviving family members have been made, said Kenya’s chief pathologist, Johansen Oduor.

Persons: “, ” Francis Wanje, ”, Wanje, Paul Nthenge MacKenzie, Luis Tato, MacKenzie, Kithure Kindiki, Yasuyoshi Chiba, Johansen Oduor, Mackenzie, Irungu Houghton, we’ve Organizations: CNN, Getty, Getty Images Government, Kenya National Commission, Human Rights, Prosecutors, Amnesty Locations: Malindi, AFP, Kenya

☆ Kenyan cult leader charged with murder of 191 children
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Bethlehem Feleke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

Nairobi, Kenya CNN —Kenyan Christian cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and 29 other suspects were charged with the murder of 191 children on Tuesday morning by the Malindi High Court. The children’s bodies were exhumed from Shakahola forest in eastern Kenya last year where Mackenzie and his associates are accused of running a death cult. Authorities exhumed over 400 bodies from the sprawling forest after months of search efforts. Mackenzie and the 29 others pleaded not guilty to the charges. One suspect was found mentally unfit to stand trial.

Persons: Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, Mackenzie Organizations: Kenya CNN — Kenyan Christian, Authorities Locations: Nairobi, Kenya

☆ Kenyan Cult Leader Is Charged in the Deaths of 191 Children
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | More About Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A doomsday cult leader whom the Kenyan authorities say ordered his congregants to starve themselves to death was charged on Tuesday, along with 29 others, with the murder of 191 children — in a case that has drawn global attention and brought widespread scrutiny over religious freedoms in the East African nation. The decision, by a court in the coastal town of Malindi, was handed down almost a month after a judge ordered that the cult leader, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, and his co-accused undergo mental health evaluations before facing any charges. Mr. Mackenzie, a pastor, and the other accused pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to appear before a court in early March. Since last April, hundreds of bodies have been exhumed from the 800-acre Shakahola Forest, where Mr. Mackenzie and his followers lived, with many buried in shallow graves. Dozens of other followers have been rescued, and hundreds more are missing, according to local officials.

Persons: Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, Mackenzie Locations: East, Malindi

A Kenyan judge on Wednesday said that a doomsday cult leader who the authorities say directed his followers to starve themselves must undergo a mental health evaluation before prosecutors formally charge him with the murders of 191 children. Mr. Mackenzie had marketed Shakahola to his followers as an evangelical Christian sanctuary from what he claimed was the fast-approaching apocalypse. Mr. Mackenzie — who has denied the allegations — appeared in court on Wednesday in the Kenyan coastal city of Malindi. The judge, Mugure Thande, gave prosecutors until Feb. 6 to make sure that he and his co-defendants are fit to stand trial. The prosecutor’s office shared with journalists a list of charges that it intends to bring against Mr. Mackenzie and 30 of his followers, including 191 counts of child murder.

Persons: Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, Mackenzie, Shakahola, Mackenzie —, —, Mugure Thande Organizations: Kenyan, Mr Locations: Shakahola, Kenya, Malindi

Malindi, Kenya CNN —The reddish soil of the Shakahola forest is still giving up its terrible secrets. The cult was preparing for the end of the world under the instruction of their its powerful pastor, say investigators. Many find it difficult to comprehend the dark path that Pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie allegedly took his followers along. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty ImagesAt a recent hearing Mackenzie denied all knowledge of the horrors that witnesses, inspectors, and survivors believe happened in the Shakahola forest. ‘Intoxicating power’To understand the Shakahola cult, the focus must be on Mackenzie, says Rick Ross, a leading American cult expert who has studied destructive cults for decades.

Persons: Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, Paul Mackenzie, David McKenzie, ’ ”, Agnes, Mackenzie, “, ”, Yasuyoshi Chiba, Rick Ross, “ It’s, Ross, Charles Manson, David Koresh, Joseph Kibwetere, Geoffrey Wango, Wango, Ruto, Nxivm, God, Naomi Kahindi's, Mwangi, Francis Wanje, Wanje’s, It’s, Wanje, Khalid Hussein, Mackenzie's, Monicah Mwangi, Jesus, couldn’t, didn’t, David Man’ong’o Organizations: Kenya CNN, CNN, Good News International Ministry, Criminal Investigations, Getty, Nairobi University, Kenyan, Reuters, . Police, Public Prosecutions Locations: Malindi, Kenya, Galilee, Bethlehem, Shakahola, AFP, American, Africa

☆ The leader of a starvation cult is still eating food, but 318 of his followers have died, and 64 are on hunger strike, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Followers of a starvation cult will undergo psychiatric evaluations as they continue to refuse food. Authorities have so far uncovered the bodies of 318 members of the Kenyan cult, per CNN. The members had been rescued from the Shakahola forest, which the leader dubbed a new "Holy Land." The cult's leader, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, was reportedly arrested on April 15 amid investigations into the death of four followers who died of starvation. On Monday, the 64 cult followers were charged with attempted suicide for continuing to refuse food, according to CNN.

Persons: —, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, Mackenzie, Smart, Paul Mackenzie, Stringer Organizations: Authorities, Kenyan, CNN, Service, Mackenzie's Good, International Church, Good News International Church, REUTERS, Twitter, Public Prosecutions, Prosecutors Locations: Shanzu, Mombasa, Kenya

CNN —A Kenyan court has ordered 64 followers of a controversial starvation cult to undergo psychiatric evaluation as they continue to refuse to eat. The followers were charged with attempted suicide on Monday after persistently refusing meals offered to them following their rescue from the Shakahola forest in April. The cult leader, controversial televangelist, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, allegedly brainwashed hundreds of his followers into starving their children before themselves, according to court documents seen by CNN. Neither Mackenzie nor his accomplices have been formally charged as prosecutors continue to seek an extension of custody period to allow further investigation. Questions have now arisen about the next steps in the controversial case after it emerged that the two lawyers representing the accused have withdrawn from the case.

Persons: CNN —, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, “, Mackenzie, Smart, George Kariuki, Elisha Komora Organizations: CNN, Kenyan, Authorities, Public Prosecutions, Citizen TV, Good News International Locations: Kilifi County, Kenya

Mombasa, Kenya CNN —The leader of a Christian cult who has been accused of encouraging his followers to starve themselves appeared in court in Mombasa, Kenya on Friday, telling CNN afterwards that the hearing is a “matter of intimidation” and time-wasting. Paul Nthenge Mackenzie was arrested last month after police received a tipoff that his land on the Shakahola forest in the Kilifi County of eastern Kenya contained mass graves. According to court documents, investigators have so far found 249 bodies and at least 10 mass graves in the Shakahola forest area. Mackenzie who appeared before the magistrate’s court in Mombasa, told CNN’s David McKenzie that he had “never seen anybody starving” when asked about accusations that followers of his group had starved their children following his instructions. In court documents dated Friday, the state prosecutor said it would seek to extend the respondents’ custody period by a further 60 days.

Persons: ”, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, Mackenzie, CNN’s David McKenzie Organizations: Kenya CNN, CNN Locations: Mombasa, Kenya, Kilifi

☆ He Told Followers to Starve to Meet Jesus. Why Did So Many Do It?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Andrew Higgins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Delirious from hunger, a believer who had brought his family to live with a Christian doomsday cult in a remote wilderness in southeastern Kenya sent a distraught text to his younger sister last week. While he begged her help to escape, he was still in the grip of the preacher who had lured him there, promising salvation through death by starvation. “Answer me quickly, because I don’t have much time. Sister, End Times is here and people are being crucified,” Solomon Muendo, a former street hawker, told his sister. They were following the call of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, a former taxi driver turned televangelist who, declaring that the world was about to end, marketed Shakahola to his followers as an evangelical Christian sanctuary from the fast-approaching apocalypse.

☆ Kenya police begin exhuming remains from suspected Christian cult graves
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Humphrey Malalo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Police began exhuming bodies on Friday, said Charles Kamau, a detective in the nearby town of Malindi, without giving further details. The leader of the church, Paul Mackenzie, was arrested following a tip-off that also suggested the existence of shallow graves belonging to at least 31 of Mackenzie's followers. Police said the 15 rescued worshippers had been told to starve themselves to death so they could meet their creator. Matthew Shipeta from Haki Africa, a human rights group, said he had seen at least 15 shallow graves in the forest. "Personally I have visited about 18 children's graves," Mikali told Citizen TV.

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